ConflictBarometer_2016

ASIA AND OCEANIA
upon the international community to protest the PRC's extraction
of resources and the construction of artificial islands in
the South China Sea. Subsequently, the PRC criticized Abe
and urged Japan to reflect upon its wartime aggression in
China. In mid-February, Japan and US criticized the PRC's deployment
of surface-to-air missiles in the South China Sea
and reiterated their right to freely navigate international waters.
On March 23, the PRC and ROC opposed Japan's publication
of revised textbooks, which claimed the disputed islands
to be inherently Japanese, and, according to the PRC, misrepresented
the Nanjing massacre during World War II. On April 4,
twelve armed Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) vessels began permanent
patrolling of the waters surrounding the disputed islands.
On April 15, the ROC protested Japan's Diplomatic Paper,
which claimed that the disputed islands were Japanese.
Subsequently, the ROC urged all involved parties to solve the
dispute peacefully. On April 29, the PRC demanded the US
and Japan stay neutral in the South China Sea dispute and not
to include the islands in a bilateral security treaty [→ China –
Vietnam et al. (South China Sea)]. In the first half of June, Chinese
vessels entered the waters of the disputed islands twice,
which was criticized by Japan. On August 3, the PRC protested
the Japanese White Paper, accusing the contents of ''stirring
up trouble between China and its neighbours and deceiving
the international community”. Three days later, a fleet of 230
PRC vessels sailed close to the disputed islands, for which the
JCG released video proof. In response, Japan objected the
PRC's actions and demanded the withdrawal of the fleet. In
early September, the Japanese Prime Minister Abe called Chinese
President Xi Jinping a friend while both agreed to talks
regarding the establishment of a communications hotline between
their defense ministries. In late September, Japan criticized
Chinese fighter jets flying over the disputed islands.
Subsequently, the PRC called upon the ROC to protect the
Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. ROC's president responded that the
islands were not Japanese and called for a peaceful resolution.
On December 22, Japan announced the allocation of
USD 1.8 billion to the JCG in order to increase its patrols.
Three days later, a PRC aircraft carrier and its fleet passed
through the Miyako Strait close to the disputed islands and
circumvented the ROC. kol
the Aqtobe region was put on high alert. Security forces
conducted counterterrorism operations and Internet access
was shut down for two days. Interior Minister Qalmukhanbet
Qasymov stated that the attack had been instructed or
inspired by a Syrian Islamist leader, but no credible claim of
responsibility was made. On November 28, a court in Aqtobe
sentenced 29 men, suspected members of the banned
Salafi confession, to jail terms ranging between two years and
life in prison. They were charged for involvement in the June
attacks. On June 29, security forces detained six suspected
Salafists in Karaganda Region that had allegedly planned an
attack with IEDs. One suspect blew himself up when security
forces tried to arrest him. The Kazakh National Security
Committee (KNB) claimed there was no link between the six
arrested suspected Salafists and the Aqtobe attack. On July
18, suspected Islamist militants reportedly attacked a police
station and a KNB office in Almaty, Almaty Region, killing at
least four police officers as well as one civilian and injuring
several.
Throughout the year, security forces detained several people
on terrorism charges. For instance, on February 18, the Sary
Arqa District Court in Astana imprisoned five men for membership
of the banned Islamist group Tabligh-I-Jamaat. On
May 13, the Qaraghandy Region's Specialized Inter-District
Court jailed two alleged recruiters of the so-called Islamic
State (IS) [→ Syria, Iraq et al. (IS)]. On July 12, an Aqtobe court
imprisoned twelve men for attempting to travel to Syria and
join IS. On August 11, an Aqtobe court jailed three men for
''spreading terrorist ideas”. On August 22, security forces detained
four members of an Islamist group for planning an attack
with IEDs against the KNB. On August 31, officials declared
that ten suspected Islamists had been detained in the
West Kazakhstan Region and eleven in the Aqtobe Region after
security forces had found guns, explosives, and ammunition
in their homes. Furthermore, on September 5, KNB stated
that eight radical Islamist groups had been apprehended between
January and September. On December 21, the KNB detained
16 suspected members of Tabligh-I-Jamaat in a counterterrorist
operation in the regions of Almaty, Aqtobe, and
Atyrau. afo
KAZAKHSTAN (ISLAMIST GROUPS)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 2011
KYRGYZSTAN (OPPOSITION)
Intensity: 2 | Change: | Start: 2005
Conflict parties: various Islamist groups vs. government
Conflict items:
system/ideology, national power
The conflict over national power and the orientation of the
political system between various Islamist militant groups and
the government escalated to a violent crisis.
According to authorities, on June 5, around 25 Islamist militants
attacked two gun shops and a military facility in the
northwestern town of Aqtobe, Aqtobe Region, killing three
security forces and five civilians. As a response, security
forces killed 18 of the gunmen during the attack and arrested
the remaining seven. Following the incident, which was the
most fatal Islamist attack since the country's independence,
149
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
opposition vs. government
system/ideology, national power
The non-violent crisis over the orientation of the political system
and national power between various opposition groups,
such as the People's Parliament movement, and the government
continued. On March 22, authorities confirmed that
they were investigating the autencity of audio recordings,
in which several opposition politicians talked about plans
to overthrow the government. In response, several opposition
members were detained or placed under house arrest
on coup charges. On March 24, opposition leaders Bektur
Asanov and Kubanychbek Kadyrov were reportedly detained
in the course of the investigation of the audio record-